GENERAL FUND RECEIPT (GFR) ACCOUNT GUIDE: SCENARIO 5: NON-CUSTODIAL STATEMENT COLLECTIONS: COLLECTION OF PROCEEDS FROM DISPOSITION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY

Effective Fiscal 2021

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**GENERAL FUND RECEIPT ACCOUNT (GFR) GUIDE: SCENARIO 5: NON-CUSTODIAL STATEMENT COLLECTIONS: COLLECTION OF PROCEEDS FROM DISPOSITION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY**

**EFFECTIVE FISCAL YEAR 2021**

**PREPARED BY:**

**GENERAL LEDGER AND ADVISORY BRANCH**

**FISCAL ACCOUNTING OPERATIONS**

**BUREAU OF THE FISCAL SERVICE**

**U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY**

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## **Background**

## **Definition of a General Fund Receipt (GFR) Account**

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) defines a GFR Account as: “A receipt account credited with all collections that are not earmarked by law for another account for a specific purpose.  These collections are presented in the President’s budget as either governmental (budget) receipts or offsetting receipts.  These include taxes, customs duties, and miscellaneous receipts.”**(Government Accountability Office, A Glossary of Terms Used in the Federal Budget Process, September 2005, GAO–05-734SP)

## **Purpose**

This guidance proposes accounting and reporting guidance for various collections classified in GFR accounts.  The following scenarios illustrate accounting transactions and reporting for specific types of collections.  The focus of this guidance is on the GFR account activity.  Related transactions illustrated in the scenarios such as credit reform activities are covered in more detail in the other case studies.  Refer to those case studies for questions not specifically related to GFR activity.  

## **Federal Account Symbols (FAS), Treasury Account Symbols (TAS), and Collections**

The Federal Account Symbols and Titles (FAST) Book, published by Treasury, lists all FAS available for Federal agency use.  A collection can be classified to any of the listed accounts.  To classify a receipt, append your agency’s two digit department code to the FAS.  This combination of department code and FAS creates TAS.  For example, collections for work performed in accordance with Economy Act can be deposited into any type of expenditure account.  On the other hand, National Park Service fees are designated by law to be deposited to a special fund receipt account.  Similarly, collections for the National Endowment for the Arts Gift Fund are designated by law to be deposited to a trust fund receipt account.  Amounts collected in the course of business by the U.S. Postal Service are, by law, deposited to a revolving fund.  Amounts not belonging to the Government are, by law, classified to deposit fund accounts.  As you can see, a specific law determines how the collections in the preceding examples are classified in a TAS.

Absent specific legislation, collections should be classified to a **General Fund Receipt TAS**.  Title 31, United States Code (USC), chapter 33, section 3302(b) establishes this concept by stating: “Except as provided in section 3718 (b) of this title, an official or agent of the Government receiving money for the Government from any source shall deposit the money in the Treasury as soon as practicable without deduction for any change or claim.”  Also, Title 31, USC, chapter 33, section 3302(e) states that “an official or agent of the Government having custody or possession of public money shall keep an accurate entry of each amount of public money received, transferred, and paid.”

## **GFR Account Categories in the FAST Book**

The “Types of Collections and Relevant FASAB References” column was included in the table to assist users in providing background information.  The users should note that the types of collections and limited paragraph references listed on the chart are suggestions and they should not be solely relied on.  Each entity should perform its own research to determine the appropriate category for its collection.

## **GFR Account Reporting Responsibility**

Within each GFR account category listed in the FAST Book there are unique FAS to identify specific activity.  After selecting the proper TAS, the reporting entity should append its 3-digit agency identifier code to the beginning of the TAS for classifying the receipt to Treasury.  A collecting entity typically reports all GFR TAS beginning with its 3-digit agency identifier code within its entity financial statements.

## **FLOWCHART - GFR COLLECTIONS TO COLLECTING AGENCY’S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS**

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No

Yes

Yes

No

No

**Custodial Revenue**

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Does the collecting agency have costs related to generating the revenue?

Is the custodial

revenue material?

**Agency Revenue**

Statement of Changes in Net Position

Balance Sheet

**Not Revenue**

Balance Sheet

Footnote Disclosure

Statement of Custodial Activity

Balance Sheet

Statement of Net 

Cost

Statement of Changes in Net Position

Is the GFR collection revenue?

Is the GFR collection exchange revenue?

Balance Sheet

Scenarios:

5 – Proceeds from disposition of assets (Transferred-In)

6 – Downward reestimate (Transferred-In)

7 - Seigniorage

Scenarios:

3 – Exchange Revenue

4 – Receivables from Canceled Authority

Scenarios: 1 Nonexchange Revenue

                    2 Nonexchange Revenue

1 & 2 – Non-exchange Revenue

## **Listing of USSGL Accounts Used in This Scenario**

## **Scenario 5 Non-Custodial Statement Collections: Collection of Proceeds From Disposition of Personal Property** (Assume the replacement property is not acquired within a 2 year period; therefore, the money is deposited into Treasury’s GFR Account.) 

**Disposition of Personal Property**

Agencies can use the proceeds from the disposal of personal property to acquire replacement property within a prescribed time limit (the year the property is disposed plus one subsequent year.) If an acquisition of the replacement property does not occur within the prescribed time, the proceeds must be transferred to a GFR account.

**If agencies have authority from legislation to keep proceeds for more than the prescribed period, then this scenario may not be applicable.**  The purpose of this section is to show how sales proceeds are collected into a GFR account. 

**NOTE:**In reality, proceeds are deposited directly into an agency’s budget clearing account F3845, “Proceeds of Sales, Personal Property,” when personal property is disposed.  However, for reporting purposes, the money will appear as if it’s coming into the program fund first and is then transferred to the budget clearing account.  The accounting entries are illustrated this way so that the asset (property) is properly removed from the program fund.  

Currently clearing accounts only record assets and liabilities.  But, in this case, when the fund balance is “transferred out” from a collecting entity to a clearing account the matching “transferred in” account will not be recorded in the General Fund receipt account until the clearing account disburses the fund balance in a subsequent year.  For example, a collecting entity will record “transferred out” in one year but the matching “transferred in” will not be recorded in the General Fund receipt account until the following year.  Therefore, the Issues Resolution Committee (IRC) decided that it would be cleaner to record a matching transferred in/out pair when the proceeds are transferred from the collecting entity to the clearing account and also when the fund balance is transferred from the clearing account to the GFR account in the subsequent period.  This process will cause F3845 to have a net position, because the proceeds transferred in to the clearing account is generally not used or returned to the GFR account within the same accounting period.  **Having a net position in a budget clearing account, F3845, is an exception, and should not be normal practice for most clearing accounts.**

**Beginning Trial Balance**

**Year 2 – 1st Quarter**

**Preclosing Trial Balance**

**Financial Statements:**

**Year 2 – 4th Quarter**

**Year 2 Preclosing Trial Balance**

**Year 2 – Preclosing Adjusting Entry**

**Year 2 Preclosing Adjusted Trial Balance**

**Financial Statements**

**Reclassified Statements:**

**Note: Effective FY 2021, the Reclassified Balance Sheet is the same as the Balance Sheet.  Therefore, the Reclassified Balance Sheet is not presented in this scenario.**

**Closing Entries**

**Post-Closing Trial Balance**

**Note: All accounts should be zero in Post-Closing Trial Balance.**

Page 2 of 2January 2021

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